Mr. Bennett joins Netflix after a nine-year stint at Warner Bros., where he most recently was VP-interactive, worldwide marketing. There he led international online campaigns for such blockbusters as the most recent "Harry Potter" films and the just-released "The Dark Knight Rises." Prior to that he ran Warner Brothers Pictures' digital-marketing efforts in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

At Netflix, Mr. Bennett will report to CEO Reed Hastings.

"We are delighted Kelly is bringing creative and marketing expertise to Netflix as our streaming business becomes increasingly global and our focus intensifies on commissioning high-quality original programming for our more than 26 million members," said Mr. Hastings said in a statement.

The CMO position has been vacant since January, when Leslie Kilgore left the position to take a nonexecutive spot on the board.

Netflix has been doing its best this year to recover from a rough 2011 when users were outraged by a series of decisions the company made, starting with a raise in subscription fees. While Netflix reported a loss in the first quarter of 2012, earlier this month it announced that it had a record 1 billion streaming hours in June.

This appointment comes in advance of the company's second-quarter earnings, which will be released tomorrow.